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I'm a 22 year-old currently going to school in San Antonio, Texas to become an aircraft mechanic. I have lived in South Texas most of my life and have not had the chance to travel much to other states.I am currently researching different cities to relocate to when I finish school.
I would like a new start in a city with low COL and where the weather has four seasons along with decent outdoor activities and scenery. Wichita was recommended to me because apparently there is alot of work for aircraft mechanics and it seems like it may work well, I just have a couple of questions:
1. How is the job market there for aircraft mechanics?and for those that have experience with Texas or similar states,is COL lower than Texas?
2. How would you rate the weather and scenery?
3.How open is it to diversity? I am Latino and while I speak English well I may not come off as the most americanized person.I have to ask because I have been to places here in Texas where these things are seen negatively by some people (ex. Speaking Spanish in public or playing Spanish music) Pretty much my question is:would it effect social life and dating?Sorry if this comes off as ignorant or offensive but I have never been to the Midwest so I have no idea what I can expect.
I just came back from visiting family in Wichita and know the city well. Although I live far from there and am adapted to a much more expensive region. Anyway, I really want to like Wichita, and there is a lot to like about it. Probably the biggest negative of the place is the lack of vision and especially ambition on the part of a lot of people. This is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it means that things that happen in other areas, (civic improvements, new industries, redevelopment etc.) are painfully slow to materialize in Wichita. If at all. On the other hand, it means the city is pretty wide open to people with some drive and ambition. You can do things in Wichita that would be much more difficult somewhere else, due to the extremely low cost of land and real estate, and the relative lack of imaginative uses it is put to. The downtown and some adjacent neighborhoods have a very cool historic look to them and some thriving nightspots and businesses, but a lot of it is just vacant, which is a real shame, considering the potential. There isn't much of a creative class there to put all these resources to use, nor is there a large segment of the population that even appreciates or supports the culture of real city life. Some people there tend to be fairly regimented in the way they think about things. But, there are also plenty of really interesting people there too, and they tend to be genuinely interested in other people who are open-minded. You encounter less "too cool for school" attitude in Wichita than you do in trendier cities.
The area is great for aircraft manufacturing, engineers, and everything that has to do with aviation. There is also a regional airport (ICT), a major Air Force base, and several general aviation airports, so there are additional jobs for aircraft mechanics. I guess you will do some research into your specific specialty, but aircraft manufacturing and servicing is by far the main industry of the city, and employs tens of thousands of people. In times of a slowdown (when there are layoffs) it will also mean there are a lot of aircraft workers out of work competing for jobs; the whole economy of the city tends to ebb and flow along with aircraft manufacturing. Cost of living is about as low as it could be in any city in America that has a functioning economy. If you want to own a home, it is probably easier in Wichita than just about any other large city.
Weather and scenery...depends on your tastes. Winters aren't that bad, although there is sometimes a blizzard; spring and fall can be very pleasant. Summers tend to be very hot. I avoid visiting in the summer if I can. Compared to Texas...just as bad, I would say. The wind is brutal sometimes and frequently. Wichita is on the border zone between gulf heat and humidity, southwest heat and aridity, and northern frigidity, so you can have influences from any of these three, and abrupt changes of weather. This is also why tornados spring up with some regularity. If you need an overall mild climate it is not for you. Most of the locals solve this problem by going outside as little as possible, with all of the lifestyle and health problems this creates. That said, you can get outside if you want, and if you like grass, this is your place. Cheney lake to the west of the city is a great wind-surfing spot, but there isn't that much recreational water otherwise, and Cheney is not particularly scenic as lakes go. I think the scenery is nice, but you have to have an eye for sunsets and wide spaces, the awesome force of the winds, and subtle changes in the land, rather than iconic landscape features and landmarks. The river running north south is pretty much the only natural feature of note, although to the far east you start to get a few minor rock outcroppings as you get into the beginning of the flint hills. If you like horses it is a great place, there is lots and lots of grassland available for horses once you get out of the city.
There are a lot of latinos in Wichita. You won't have trouble in that respect. (15% of the population is latino as of the 2010 census.) That said, probably 40% of the town is comprised of people you might be afraid would live in a place like Wichita. But easily 45% of the rest have no problem relating to people of diverse backgrounds, and do so routinely. When you see groups of younger people hanging out you will definitely see diversity, it is not each group to its own; although of course you do see groups that are all of one ethnicity. The town will both defy and reinforce the stereotypes people have about it. It is a very blue collar town, but there is also something of a professional class. The cost of living is low, but so are the wages of unskilled and semi-skilled people. It's a town that seems to have a bit of an inferiority complex, not sure why, but it's clearly the case, and this can cause some people to take offense or have their feelings hurt easily. There is a fair amount of violent crime, and you can become a victim of it if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, or drink a lot and do drugs. It is ironic, because many of the locals seem to think that larger cities are all dangerous hell-holes you would be taking your life into your hands to visit, but in fact Wichita has all of the problems it thinks it does not, sometimes in worse measure than larger cities. You can get shot pretty easily in Wichita, so definitely keep that in mind. A lot of neighborhoods that look suburban middle class can actually have some crime in them, and the lower class areas often have police incidents. Many people prefer the towns around Wichita (Derby, Mulvane, Andover, Maize, Goddard etc.) and nearby towns outside of the direct metro area (Newton, Hutchinson, Winfield etc.) even though they are a drive to get to. Traffic isn't bad at all, so if you are willing to drive up to an hour you have a vast area to consider.
Overall the city itself feels a lot smaller than it actually is, and there isn't a huge influx of people into the city (greater than the numbers of people moving to the surrounding towns at least); so there is a certain lack of dynamism that you would otherwise have, if there were a greater inflow of population, and more growth within the city. This keeps the cost of housing low anyway. If you are working in the aircraft industry you will be part of a huge group of workers in the area, and likely won't notice many of the defects I have mentioned. Wichita definitely has a lot to offer and could be a good choice for you, especially if you don't expect it to be something it is not.
Last edited by thrasybulus; 03-24-2017 at 01:55 AM..
Wichita is more of a bait and switch scam. The employment scams are awful and most do not do well alone for long. Lots of shops repeatedly mistreat some employees (any color but worse female) and fire without unemployment...no attorneys will help sometimes. The aircraft plants have their own workplace hazards sometimes causing mean schizophrenia cases for anyone who gets upset and many just walked away from the Wichita aerospace even to selling drugs with a Master's degree. Minorities are more likely to be targeted for ruin. Wichita aerospace has so many strikes/layoffs their people are usually broke. Really, the $25 starting pay riveting work left when Boeing found out they can pay the people in Oklahoma $12 an hour for that job. I really think the rest of the plants could just follow suit.... Get upset about any of these workplace or social situation scams and people get sick for 2-3 years sometimes.
The aerospace industry here has many PEONS they will hire, you need a master's degree to be a ROCKSTAR. Wichita State University COULD be a good stop for you as the engineering school is tops. Neighborhood surrounding WSU has too many burglaries, muggings, drugs/drivebys but cheap apartments abound all over. The area has a big spanish population in the barrio just west of Broadway street in area that needed restoration as houses aged and now very vibrant and well kept Spanish community. There is a bus service from 6am to 7:30 pm so possible to deal with things without a car. Can try the RV/travel trailer lifestyle for schooling if you want, some stay at a trailer park North of Hwy 96 just off Hillside.
Aerospace constantly strikes and lays off as I said. Best prepared who are airplane electricians or Master's level engineers own multiple basic homes in several different states near aircraft plants all over the country. The investment can serve your family well later as your kids & grands can rent out these places and have multiple workplace/housing locations options later. The plane electricians are best choice if you don't want to bother with Master's degree is very upwardly mobile and easy to transfer around. If you don't like whatever is up in Wichita aircraft office, just transfer to another factory.
I heard there was FREE aircraft training to be found right now as they are short workers as many left Wichita recently I guess while others retrain for more stable work after so many layoffs/furloughs/strikes make some quit. You can search through Kansas.com for details. Can also ask over at Unemployment Office at Main/2nd about Worker Retraining. It might get you a degree for free while paid unemployment, free school and books....BEST OF LUCK! Butler County College just east of Wichita is running one hell of a bad discrimination sitaution right now and ruining/harassing older students ...Would totally skip it. Wichita State U or Wichita Area Technical College (WATC) are my choice. NAIC on 85th North and Hydraulic/I-135 acts pretty bad too toward some and never really sure why as is not racial, just NUTS STAFFERS.
Will find NUTTY to be really common in Wichita, and better to NEVER answer anything off. If it is threatening, just leave the area or walk off the job. Some who questioned 'whatever is wrong here' even got harmed by management at work and is regular scam for the place to screw new people. Can ask another coworker what happened to the last one if you want or talk to HR about what other jobs are available?
In short, if you can take advantage of the FREE education in a city with lots of aviation experience and leave, all the more power to you...Will have lots of internship options too...Will give you time to see if area meets your needs or you need to move on.
Thought I might post, the kansaswork.com website is run by the local Unemployment Offices now outsourced to private company. But, I've been seeing ads for entry-level journeymen (electric line guys) from age 17+ being advertised around suburban Wichita like Cowley or Sumner counties and more rural areas. Pay was like $15 to start. This is plenty of money to get decent apartment for yourself and entry-level transport.
This might be a good idea for you if you want other good paying entry level work. Get to travel a ton after storms and pay is like $35+ but do work in all kinds of bad weather in dangerous work. Cannot be afraid of heights.
I can relate to your worries after listening to the Mexican bashing hicks around rural Kansas. City doesn't give a damn about race unless you meet a handful of haters. You can try to find some communities with large numbers of Hispanics like Liberal, Dodge City or Garden City and there is a thriving Latino community. You can also find large groups of Latinos spread out all over the state using the population statistics from city-data's affiliated website. There is safety and power in numbers to sticking to communities with a good-sized Latino population to avoid the discrimination....Journeyman is dangerous work so I totally can understand the need to trust all the guys you work with...
Honestly, I don't know what you think is normal. A friend relocated to El Paso TX from Wichita and just loved it, even working as a waitress. It was a great paying situation plus good public transit, so no more cars to get screwed with as sometimes-single mom with 3 kids who went through health crisis.
I think you may see something really disturbing in Wichita ... This has become more and more of a scam operation city with no unemployment and places hiring every 4-6 screwing out low paid office workers with a college education...You still have some $25 sheet metal guys and better pay for electrical experience, more for master's degree working at aviation. But these are the nastiest creatures in the community spitting on people that got ruined and calling people names, stalking and all kinds of creepy crap to the low paid people around here. They make a terrible work situation at the aviation plants sometimes for the minority workers and female, some of whom developed schizo after getting angry about some kind of workplace mistreatment or fight. Some of these minorities ended up back in the hood selling drugs even after YEARS at the plants....More of these well paid males are scam artists in the community f-ing up the people they rent to as landlords or small side businesses...
Noted lots of middle income in newer houses bought here and only stayed a year.
I don't know if you will find better. But even Kansas City has some REALLY GOOD technical and manufacturing opportunities. DO GET A FORKLIFT CERTIFICATION AVAILABLE AFTER 1 WEEK OF SCHOOLING FOR $400 and will take care of you for rest of your working life IN EMERGENCIES. Will get you hired in country or city and pays more. I think you need to be 25 years old so see it as an investment of your tax money in a couple years.
Some who got in trouble in Wichita, were told by residents where they moved that they could be killed as you came across the wrong thing...And the schizo from Wichita is LONG TERM...most of the women are hearing it only because they had to work with the sex abuser family or they got attacked. The males just turn out to be easy to crack to Wichita is home to lots of scams, bad cops, worse courts, no attorneys for poor and ruins people who try it hear sometimes.
Even veteran came back from Middle East tour to have the voices start; VA hospital refused to treat him and no one told him about the county mental clinic. His family just told him 'YOU HAVE TO GO TO CHURCH TO UNDERSTAND GAWD' and it policy to harm own family you give up and take disability pay if you don't go to church and serve the voices to stalk people, vandals, thefts, screwing up own family and screwing boss/customer at work. His family eventually called the cops and this black veteran was shot over a plastic butter knife...No one would tell him 'I guess it is your turn to hear it' and it could take 2-3 years for the voices to stop. The cops cleaned up scene before photo man arrived and there is law suit.
Forwarned....most of the females cannot live alone in Wichita long any more and have to latch onto someone so can become a hood joke even in nice area where new female gets creeped out+ starts to look for roommate male and if alone at some of these jobs, lady is told she needs to do a coworker...they get a write up on chick and sometimes crazy starts at some of these jobs, she is fired in 4-6 months and unemployment denied. Most of the adults who moved here with retirement savings used it many times early after getting screwed...Is coming to point where Coleman wants to pay $8.00 for assembling RV furnaces...The office jobs pay $9-10 for something that can get you sued...So don't expect to find long-term good wages easily in Wichita as most is temp work and $10 for all other manufacturing.
Cops here will ruin someone who just bought property here for any complaints about what the ghosts did to the property while you are gone which can include stealing wallets and throwing it out in ditch regularly...These were not allowed to sell their new properties due to old work permits someone didn't get and screwed out in 1-2 weeks. I'm not sure why...
Lots of smaller Kansas towns are running something pretty shocking too. Get angry and get hurt. Don't bring much and keep mouth shut. Lots of the residents do not have much in their houses any more after undergoing a bust-you. I understand in Hutchinson, they used to bust light switches even so some poor left the pull cord lights. People's stuff was hit hard for work complaints, taking on the city or taking on the unions ...
Wichita may be worse than other places as the protestant churches worked to hide bad sex abuse ring that has partially moved from area....Cops even harm the girls who were assaulted and many who worked with it ended up with PTSD and the family sex abusers stalking people...The lady was introducing around the family sex abuser right away to coworkers, scare them and then let him go on them. There is BAD discrimination system running and mainly feeding off these women, unwilling mistresses, some new people who got angry and ex-wives of wealthy...Catholic thing isn't bad as they were sane - high school here at CAtholic schools made it obvious so people would understand what abusers, predatorials, passive aggressives and crazy meant. The protestants are loud LOONEY-TOONEY AT WORK. You may not know it but a lot of the wealthy sex abusers and some celebrities mentally tortured to people they assaulted so this is why Wichita is nuts. Protestant People had to go to church to get the voices to stop or just ignore it for a few years.
You also need to know MOST of the social situations - church socializing, business networking, social groups run on meetup.com, charities and causes were taking slaves and forcing some mistresses. Was BAD source of torment to get caught in one of these in addition to problems at work....
May run into trainers at aerospace who tell you to put your hand or head into a machine...It got others amputated or scalped and the company tries to get out of paying you. This ACTUALLY happened to family of aerospace workers after they got their kids jobs at the Wichita aviation plants.
Don't think about Colorado, it's even worse for someone who can pay their bills. 'We don't need any workers' is what is said and they start to bust everything you own.
You are better moving near old friends or family anywhere in country, especially if low cost of living area. Having contacts MAY keep you from suffering or getting screwed for a while...
Kansas City is REALLY thriving place but there is talk about bad discrimination of the minorities from 1970s forward even keeping many blacks in fast food or retail. Many gave up and sold drugs to 'live'. Any color and any neighborhood supported the drugs and cops ignore it....Some of the discrimination was due to horrible public schools leaving so many borderline illiterate, was only solution according to some...However, with some education or work experience, place is SO desperate for out of town or foreign workers, was paradise for some.
Couple little things to know. Walk the neighborhood for 20-30mintues before you even view apartments and see if anyone says anything crazy, hateful or weird. If so, skip it...Poorer areas are more obvious. Gangs of teens and 20s of all races do 'gang stalking' which is going around in groups to threaten new residents, workers or visitor. YOU CANNOT ANSWER THIS ANGRILY OF THE KIDS WILL SCARE AWAY THE MILITARY GUYS EVEN. If you don't say much or 'I just came here to work', you get threatened a few times and they quit. However, the neighborhoods will not leave anyone living alone long and can get you killed if you ignore this kind of behavior from local kids and just move in. Cops cover this as suicides in some neighborhoods and whole families can get killed too. WAY OUT suburbs are an option if you do get treated like this...It just depends on who you met over the years and you may not GEL...is not your fault, is just your aura kind of shining out over the neighborhoods and the poor and too often psychotic kids answer. NEVER TELL YOUR BACK STORY OF TEXAS EXCEPT TO RELATIONSHIPS OR DISCRIMINATION STARTS...You know some of the kids are psychotic and POORER hear it worse when another psychotic person stays in their neighborhood for long so they are told to go look you up and bother you...If you take work, some of this crap does quit sometimes...
Rest of the place totally makes sense...Really vibrant place with lots of good paying jobs, little tech start up thing going strong due to Google Fiber 1T internet moving in...Lots of social and cultural activities. Lots of outdoor stuff for the city. Really friendly locals but if they do a 180 on you, listen to what is said around you so you will know if you are going to be left alone living there. If you get threatened or too many of the neighbors start to bother you, someone might try to do a cooking fire in nice areas to move you on...some of the landlords will rip you off if you hit this point and like lose the rent on old people even.
A local might latch on and you will know more...
Wichita doesn't run like this. Is BUNCHES of attack groups of wealthy businessmen trying to find slaves and sex workers to position their business, dominate business, ruin people, sex abuse, GAWD complexes...In favor or targeted, busted to bits worse over time. Very smart teacher from high school just summarized it that living in Wichita eventually usually ruins everyone or you get presented something so bad, they ran. Was better to keep two houses if you are upwardly mobile and spend weekend working on your country property. When Wichita screws you too bad, you can go to place where the people know you. Move from KC to Wichita, even to take work, and may be told you will be killed because you met the wrong thing back there....Need to move about a day's drive away from Wichita to get from discrimination from Wichita's problem - where you met the wrong thing - that is move past Missouri, Okla, Ark, Colorado. Retiring in Wichita is just poverty and no transportation after you cannot walk to bus & carry it all back. The suburbs have the fortunate. But, the nursing care in Wichita hired some crazies to work in the nursing home and will allow anyone to visit old folks so sex abuse gets covered up and cops/politicians are aware of it and did not care...
Was told this is just how some smaller cities run, eventually things go bad and is just a trap as not enough jobs, cops are dirty and everything is allowed to go down....END OF STATEMENT. GOOD LUCK TO YOU.
I'm a 22 year-old currently going to school in San Antonio, Texas to become an aircraft mechanic. I have lived in South Texas most of my life and have not had the chance to travel much to other states.I am currently researching different cities to relocate to when I finish school.
I would like a new start in a city with low COL and where the weather has four seasons along with decent outdoor activities and scenery. Wichita was recommended to me because apparently there is alot of work for aircraft mechanics and it seems like it may work well, I just have a couple of questions:
1. How is the job market there for aircraft mechanics?and for those that have experience with Texas or similar states,is COL lower than Texas?
2. How would you rate the weather and scenery?
3.How open is it to diversity? I am Latino and while I speak English well I may not come off as the most americanized person.I have to ask because I have been to places here in Texas where these things are seen negatively by some people (ex. Speaking Spanish in public or playing Spanish music) Pretty much my question is:would it effect social life and dating?Sorry if this comes off as ignorant or offensive but I have never been to the Midwest so I have no idea what I can expect.
Any advice is welcome, thank you.
Do yourself a big, big, big, big favor. Get over your thoughts of a new start in a low cost city. If you can find a good job in or near San Antonio, that is your best option. Please do not take any offence. I just think you would be disappointed there. Very much so.
If I had the choice to make, I would choose San Antonio. This actually has nothing to do with you being Latino. I had a old black lady tell me 20 years ago, when I was in L.A. that I was the whitest person she had seen in her life.
One thing I can say about Wichita is that it's aerospace manufacturing capitol of the world with cycles of hiring/laying off which is why I quit working in aerospace manufacturing. Used to be you would expect to be laid off every 7 years then rehired later. It has changed to more likely hiring/laying off every 5 to 7 years which isn't good if you're paying for a home and have kids to support. As for aircraft mechanics, they're almost always in demand pretty much everywhere. Boeing decided to move their entire manufacturing division to Seattle.
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